NEST OF WOODCOCK 225 



scratch out with their bills and feet ; but as a rule this 

 rough nest is free from any kind of lining-. 



The eggs are so like the ground in colour that it is 

 very difficult to distinguish them ; and the hen-bird 

 will allow an intruder to walk almost over her, or she 

 will quit the nest long before he approaches. I have 

 never seen a woodcock fly off her nest unless the 

 young were fledged, and at such times the parent birds 

 will carry them away, one by one. Whenever I have 

 found nests with eggs which were in process of being 

 hatched, the hen-bird quietly left the nest by running 

 away, and did not rise until she was some distance 

 from it, evidently endeavouring by this means to 

 conceal its whereabouts. It is a very pretty and 

 interesting sight to witness the old birds carry away 

 their young. If the latter are strong enough, they 

 invariably carry them by holding them with their 

 bill and feet, the feet grasping the bill of the young 

 bird, and these journeys are repeated until all the 

 young brood are safely lodged in another place. I 

 have generally found from three to four young birds 

 in a nest. 



15 



